They are well versed in the abilities of Ryan Yates in these parts, but the midfielder offered another reminder to Aitor Karanka of what he is capable of, as he notched the only goal of the game to help Nottingham Forest to a relatively comfortable 1-0 win over Scunthorpe.

Yates was not the only Reds player to impress, on a night when they looked solid at the back, while creating enough chances to have won by a bigger margin.

But his first half finish proved to be the decisive moment of the game, in Forest’s penultimate pre-season friendly.

Karanka had previously hinted that Yates would be allowed to head out on loan this summer, just as he had done last season, in order to build more experience.

But his well-taken goal might just have given his manager food for thought, on a night when Forest were solid, if at times unspectacular, with periodic flashes of promise from some of their new signings.

Karanka shuffled his pack to include many of the players who had not started the game at Oldham on Saturday, with only Costel Pantilimon retaining his place in the starting XI.

Yates, who enjoyed a successful loan spell here in the second half of last season, started in the defensive midfield role alongside Adlene Guedioura, behind the Portuguese trio of Diogo Goncalves, Joao Carvalho and Gil Dias, with Daryl Murphy the lone striker, within Forest’s now familiar 4-2-3-1 formation.

It was Murphy who had the first chance of the game in the fourth minute, following some encouraging build-up play from Carvalho and Goncalves, who delivered a teasing ball right across the face of goal to the far post, where Murphy tried to place an angled shot, which was cleared off the line.

Forest were looking patient on the ball, with Yates and Guedioura seeing plenty of it in the centre, and full-backs Osborn and Darikwa both pushing on high up the pitch, to provide attacking width.

Osborn was getting plenty of space to exploit down the left side in particular, but when he was picked out by a cross from Dias, he was stretching to connect and could only head well wide.

When Darikwa picked up a sloppy ball from the home side, he spotted Goncalves’ run down the centre and picked him out with a decent pass. But Goncalves’ clever attempt to flick the ball over the keeper with the outside of his boot just lacked enough power to beat Rory Watson, who held gratefully.

Forest did take the lead in the 24th minute, courtesy of a well worked set-piece. Carvalho’s curling delivery from the right was flicked on cleverly by Guedioura and Yates reacted quickest, to drive home a powerful shot from ten yards.

The Reds were playing with a quiet confidence and looked a threat, particularly when the Portuguese trio of Carvalho, Dias and Goncalves got themselves on the ball around the edge of the box.

A fine ball from Dias picked out Osborn on the left and his cross to the near post was a decent one, but there was nobody there in a red shirt to attack it.

Dias then showed he has determination to go with his flair, as he twice charged down the ball to give himself the opportunity to glide into the box, where his shot was blocked, but fell kindly for Osborn, who was frustrated to clear the bar with an effort of his own, from a good position.

Conor Townsend’s free kick for Scunthorpe failed to properly beat the Forest defensive wall, with Pantilimon scooping up the loose ball alertly, after all the power had been taken out of the shot.

Forest threatened again when Osborn delivered a right-footed cross from the left, which was intelligently laid-off by Yates, to the edge of the box, where Murphy hit an instant shot that was only a foot or two wide of the upright.

Fox’s ball from the back sent Goncalves scampering down the left side and, after getting the Scunthorpe defence on the back foot, he picked out Carvalho on the edge of the box. His curling shot was always flying high and wide, but it was another positive moment of menace for the Reds, who looked a far more cohesive unit than they had done at Oldham.

Forest made two changes at half time, with Colback replacing Yates, to get his first taste of the action since he returned for a second loan spell, while Joe Worrall replaced Figueiredo.

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Guedioura came close to a trademark long-range strike when he had a pop from 25 yards – and saw his powerful strike clear the bar by only a foot or so, as Watson clawed at thin air.

A loose pass in midfield was pounced on and Forest broke quickly, with Dias feeding Murphy with a defence splitting pass, but he saw his shot charged down after cutting back onto his right foot.

Goncalves offered a glimpse of what he is capable of when he rampaged down the left and into the box, leaving several players in his wake, but his low cross flew right across goal, unconverted.

Scunthorpe sub Stephen Humphrys had the best chance of the game so far for the home side, but flashed a low shot the wrong side of the post.

Forest then gave Jordan Smith a taste of the action as he came off the bench to replace Pantilimon for the final 23 minutes.

There were four further changes as Jack Robinson, Arvin Appiah, Hillal Soudani and Thomas Lam all came on, with Robinson slotting in at left back, Lam playing in defensive midfield and Osborn pushing forward to join Appiah and Soudani in a new-look attacking three, behind Murphy.